Relatives denounce the extraction of vital organs to one of the dead Guantanamo prisoners

20MINUTOS.ES / EFEJune 21, 2006

The family of the Saudi Manie Bin Shaman Al Utaibi, one of the Saudis that died at the beginning of the month at Guantanamo prison asserts that his corpse was repatriated to Saudi Arabia without brain, heart, liver, or kidneys.

"These organs have been extracted from the body presumably to hide the real cause of death," said Mohamad Al Utaibi, cousin of Manie, in declarations published today by Gulf News, the United Arab Emirates newspaper.

Mohamad Al Utaibi said his family has refused to receive the body of his cousin until they are informed about the true cause of his death.

North American authorities returned last Saturday to Riyadh the bodies of Manie and Yasser Al Zahraini, another Saudi, in addition to a third Yemeni prisoner found dead in his cell as well.

The three families have rejected the results of the autopsies, which concluded that the prisoners had committed suicide, and have issued a call for a neutral body to carry out another autopsy.

Talal Abdullah Al Zahrani, father of Yasser, has also refused to receive the body of his son until he is informed of the results of the autopsy that are carrying out the Saudi authorities.

Previously, the father of Yasser had said that the body of his son showed contusions in his body, which led him to say that he was strangled and did not commit suicide.

Three prisoners in the naval base at Guantanamo, two of them Saudis and the other of Yemeni nationality, committed suicide in their cells hanging themselves with strips of clothes and sheets, according to a North American military spokesperson.